Almost Losing My Luke
by Harvest Loon
Summary: Luke X Akari Oneshot When Luke disappears Akari is told that it's unlikely she'll find him alive. Will she give up or will she fight until the end...?


Almost Losing My Luke

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**Well I don't normally write short stories but I had a really good idea so I decided to give it a go. As you all know how obsessed with Luke I am it's no surprise that my short story is in fact about Luke which is good news for most of you. It's quite sad but where would we be without a little drama. Enjoy.**

Akari ran through the woods in a hurry forcing branches out of her way, jumping over logs and ducking beneath the occasional canopy of brambles and vines. She had been searching for hours on end. She knew in her mind that she wasn't going to find him but her heart pushed her on.

_He's alive! He's alive and I know it! _She thought to herself as she dashed through the swampy marsh land.

She remembered what the others had told her before she took off~

_He's gone Akari…there's no point!_

_I'm so sorry Akari, you'll get through it believe me!_

_I know you loved him…Don't worry!_

It made no sense to her. How could they all just give up like that? Without even trying! She knew that Luke would want her to keep going, he had so much life left in him! There was never a dull moment when Luke was around.

'Luke?!' She called 'Luke answer me!'

Akari was beginning to tire but she kept going strong. The sun had set half an hour previous and the moon was peeping through the gaps in the foliage of the large trees which surrounded her as she bounded through the unknown calling out for her best friend.

After running for miles, most likely in a circle, she began to slow down. Her throat ached and her head spun. She propped herself up against the bark of a nearby oak, panting and gasping for breath.

'Luke?' She whispered as she let her body fall into a heap at the foot of the tree. She curled up into a ball and shut her eyes tight. She began to think of all the good times they had had together.

Akari's 3rd birthday party where Luke spilt a litre of soft ice-cream over Gill.

The time they had gone camping and found themselves both scared stiff huddled together in the corner of their tent pouring out all their secrets to each other just in case they died.

The time Chase crushed her heart and Luke walked straight up to him and said 'It's cause you're gay isn't it!'

Their first kiss on the end of the pier at the fireworks.

The day Luke told her he loved her after she made him his own spinach patch on her farm.

The day they organised a girls verses boys water fight where they ditched everybody and ran off to caramel falls and kissed beneath the waterfall.

The time they set Bo and Chloe up on a blind date.

All these memories made Akari realise how much she needed him. All these memories were the fuel that she needed to push her out of her tiny ball on the forest floor and continue looking for him.

The moon shone and the Coyote howled. The wind whistled blowing the crispy leaves off the ground and into a whirlwind before settling gently again.

Akari jumped up pushing her shaggy brown hair out of her eyes and taking a deep breath. Even if she was to consider giving up she was completely and utterly lost. She spun around quickly trying to identify a familiar path, but they all looked the same. She didn't have her cell phone to call anybody, she had no food or water and the darkness was making the ground beneath her extremely difficult to see.

The meaning of the name Akari is light and that matched her personality perfectly. Akari always saw the good side of situations and had always been very optimistic, but right then and there she could see no upside.

A sudden surge of adrenaline filtered through her body. She clenched her fists and forced her eyebrows together before heading further into the forest.

'LUKE?!' She began to call again 'COME ON LUKE I NEED YOU!'

Akari needed a miracle. Whilst she ran she whispered a quick prayer to the Harvest Goddess a myth that she had always believed in.

Something in the distance then caught her eye. A piece of fabric billowing off a branch. Akari squinted trying to make her blurred vision a little clearer. As she approached it she recognised the flame decals. She grabbed the material and held it tightly to her chest. She had never been so glad to see that damned bandanna.

She could feel her eyelashes growing wet and she blinked furiously to prevent the tears leaking as she knew if she started crying she would never be able to stop.

'He's close!' She whispered to herself 'I can feel it!'

With the bandanna firmly in her grip she crouched down and began forcing her way through a small cluster of brambles. The thorns tore against her clothes and skin but she couldn't feel the pain. She felt the droplets of blood running over her skin, the fresh scars stinging like hell although Akari was oblivious.

Once through the briars she reached her next obstacle, the heavy stream which led to the waterfall. Akari stood up straight taking a small step back edging away from the water. She had never been a fan of water and she especially didn't fancy the idea of falling down a waterfall but a quick glance at the material in her fist reassured her and before she knew it the icy liquid had engulfed her whisking her further and further towards the edge at a rate of knots. Akari shut her eyes tight and took a deep breath before she was shoved off the end and plunged into the rocky pool below.

*********

Akari's eyes fluttered open. She winced at the pain that controlled her body. She didn't remember what had happened, where she was or who had rescued her but she had somehow wound up in a hospital bed in the clinic.

'Akari.' A gentle voice said from beside her. 'Akari honey?'

The confused brunette closed her eyes again scanning her mind for any memories on her rescue.

'Oh…Oh Irene!' Her mother's voice called. Footsteps approached them across the marble floor and a warm hand was placed on Akari's forehead.

'Akari?' An older less calming voice said to her forcing words out of her trembling lips.

'W-Where…h-h-how?' Was all she managed.

The bed springs creaked as Irene placed herself on the edge of the bed.

'Toby found you...washed up on the rocks at Caramel Falls. You're pretty shaken up.' The elderly doctor said sucking her teeth and looking at Akari's drained and worn face.

She rolled onto her side and stared at the floor, her eyes beginning to moisten.

What she saw next she assumed to be a hallucination, her mind winding her up.

Familiar thigh high boot rolled down, a pair of incredibly tight jeans, a ripped torso, golden eyes.

Her breathing hitched, her heart banged against her rib cage.

'Luke…?' She whispered her voice strained.

A smooth leather glove settled on top of her pale hand and soon his face was next to hers as he knelt at her bedside.

Akari began feeling nauseous as his scarred face became clearer to her. His hair damp hanging loosely around his shoulders, his silvery blue bangs covering one of his eyes.

His perfectly smooth lips were cut. A long seeping gash ran from the top of his shoulder straight across his chest and stopped in a sharp point just above his almost 8 pack.

'You saved it.' He whispered his voice slightly ragged. She followed his stare to his bandanna which she was still holding tightly onto.

Akari nodded slightly and loosened her grip on it letting it flop lightly across her palm.

'Can you imagine loosing this ratty old thing?' She choked out the corners of her mouth turning up.

He took it from her hand flattening it out before repositioning on his head, his muscles twitching as he strained his wound.

Once the bandanna was back where it belonged he threw a quick glance at Akari's mother and Irene. They quickly got the hint and scuttled out of the room closing the door behind them.

'You saved me Akari.' Luke said folding his arms and resting them on the side of her bed.

'M-me? How?' She stuttered her eyelids fluttering.

Luke took a deep breath and stared down to where her arm lay limply on top of the pristine white sheets.

'You knew where I was! You led Toby to me! Don't you remember?' He told her catching her amethyst stare.

Akari's eyebrows knitted together as she shook her head.

'I was trying to find the 'Giant Sequoia Redwood' that Bo had told me about.' He sighed and rolled his eyes. 'He told me it was on the other side of the river and that my dad would be able to make some really rare and exclusive furniture out of it. Our family isn't that well off Akari…we need the money as you know! Well I thought the current didn't look that strong so I tried to swim across it, but it caught me and threw me straight off the end of the waterfall. I didn't even realise my bandanna was gone until I woke up here about an hour ago.'

Akari tried to think of something sensible today but the obvious blow to her head had made her a little perplexed.

'B-but you're alive!' She said shaking her head 'They weren't gonna let me go look for you…they thought I'd be too late! But I know you, I knew you'd hang on!'

Luke propped himself up and leant in towards her pressing his scratched lips to hers. The feel of the open wound against Akari's lips made her shiver a little but she quickly got over it pulling him closer and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Luke pulled back slightly to catch his breath, his smouldering topaz eyes staring deeply into hers.

'The thought of losing you!' Akari said her expression bewildered.

'I'm so so so sorry!' He said hooking his chin over her shoulder and pulling her into a tight embrace.

Akari could have stayed in that moment forever. She never thought she'd see her goofy, happy-go-lucky carpenter friend again, but just as she had prayed for she was back in his arms once again.

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**Thanks for reading guys, that was incredibly sad to write but it has a happy ending so all's well. Please review and I may consider writing a few more (happier) short stories in the future. **


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